


(Just How Fast) The Night Changes

by nessiegirl



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Deaf Character, M/M, Phone Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 10:18:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3688506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessiegirl/pseuds/nessiegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall could have left, could have passed the call on to Harry, but. He's actually kind of glad he didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Just How Fast) The Night Changes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justyrae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/gifts).



> A few days ago, Justine's friend sent her a link to [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKFrwGU9FKY), and [Justine](http://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae) wrote [this lovely fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3676446) based on the idea. She also passed the video on to me, and it inspired me to write this.
> 
> This has been gifted to Justine because she has been an incredible friend over the last few months, and she doesn't get the credit or attention or love she deserves, so here you go. This one's for you.
> 
> The title comes from Night Changes by One Direction.
> 
> And lastly, I know very little about being deaf, the deaf community and sign language, so there could be mistakes and/or offensive content in this. If anyone knows more about these things and wants to correct me, please do so, to make sure I don't do those things again.

The call comes in ten minutes before midnight, and Niall’s pretty sure this will be his last one of his shift. Liam’s been here since eight and will stay until two or three, and Harry’s arrived half an hour early, as usual, so they’ll be covered for the night. And after a week from hell at university, Niall could do with the sleep as soon as physically possible.

Before Niall can answer though, Harry calls out from his seat opposite and slightly to the left of Niall. “Hey, you need me to take this one? I could, y’know - if you’re still having problems or anything.”

Without even thinking about it, Niall reaches up to touch his headset, and the hearing aid hidden beneath it. The battery had gone at the weekend and he’d replaced it with his last spare, so it should hold out for a few more days but there are no guarantees. This year alone he’s gone through eight batteries, and they’re only just in April, and Niall can’t wait for his replacement aid to arrive in the post and end all this mayhem. But for now he’s coping, and the current one should survive the night, so Niall waves Harry away and takes the call.

As the picture comes up on the screen, Niall pastes on a friendly smile and reminds himself to sign this instead of speaking. _“Hello! Welcome to Video Relay. Please tell me the name and number I can connect you to.”_

The person at the other end of the call is a young man, with big black framed glasses and long black hair falling over his shoulders and a nervous smile on his face. _“Hi, is Liam available tonight?”_ He signs back.

Niall holds a finger up, to ask the guy to wait, and looks up to check with Liam. Most of their customers like to work with the same person each time, if they can, and Niall understands. Several of his friends have little twitches or extra movements when they sign, and if you’re not expecting those, they can make it hard to understand what the person’s saying. Also, if it means Niall doesn’t actually have to finish this call, well. He won’t be complaining about a few minutes extra in bed, that’s for sure.

Unfortunately Liam’s working with someone else, signing a message from the phone call to the person on the video call, so Niall will have to deal with this. _“Liam’s busy right now with another call. Would you like me to make the phone call for you, or would you like to try again later, when Liam’s free?”_

The guy bites his lip and takes a minute to consider it. While he’s doing that, Niall takes in the whole scene, and finds himself smiling. The guy is really attractive, and Niall finds his nervous tics endearing, rather than annoying. He’s wearing a short sleeve shirt which shows off a huge array of tattoos, and Niall wishes the quality was better so he could see them clearly. And the background of the video suggests he’s in his bedroom, with a few pieces of artwork on the walls, and a couple of large framed photos on the shelf. One shows the guy with two girls, who could be his sisters, and another is with a guy, who’s also about their age and hugging the guy on the call tightly.

Eventually Niall realises that the guy’s waving with both hands, to try and get his attention. _“No, you can do this for me.”_ Niall spots a small bird tattooed on the back of the guy’s hand, and he struggles to focus on what he’s saying. _“The name is Lou, and the number is...”_

It takes a while to sign out each digit of the number, and even longer for Niall to make sure he’s typed it correctly. Eventually the noise comes through to show it’s ringing, and Niall signs that to the guy, along with a gesture for when it’s picked up.

“This is Fuckboys 24/7 - which of our twinks do you want to talk to?”

Niall barks out a laugh and tries in vain cover it with a cough. “Hey, is Lou free tonight?”

The operator sighs. “God I hope this isn’t another prank call,” He mutters, before going back to the polite, formal tone he used before. “Please wait one minute while I connect you.”

While he’s waiting for the line to connect, Niall gives the guy on the video call a grin. _“Fuckboys 24/7, eh?”_

The guy blushes and rubs the back of his neck. _“Sorry, I just - I get lonely, sometimes, and-”_

Niall holds his hand up and closes it, to put the guy on hold, as the phone call connects to Lou. “Hey there, babe,” Lou says, in a low, sultry voice. “I’m all alone and so hard for you. What’s your name, big boy?”

As he stifles a giggle, Niall looks away from the screen, where the guy is now blushing and leaning back to stare at the ceiling. “Before you continue, Lou, I need to explain something. My name is Niall and I’m from Video Relay. It’s a service that lets deaf people make phone calls, with the help of an interpreter. I’ve got a guy on a video call who’s deaf and wants to talk to you, so I’ll sign what you say to him and then tell you what he signs back. Is that okay?”

“That’s - mate, that’s a bit weird.” Rather than the sexy tone from before, Lou uses his normal voice, which is coloured with confusion. “I mean, the point of these calls is for the guy to get off, and - are you gonna watch that?”

“I’ll ask.” Niall can’t help the lecherous grin on his face as he gets the guy’s attention and signs the question. _“Are you gonna get off from this? Because I’ll be watching, and that-”_

The guy quickly stops Niall, and rests his head in his hands for a moment, like he can’t cope with how embarrassing this all is. _“It’s just a fantasy, for after the call,”_ He finally explains. _“I’ll do the other stuff later, the actual...”_ His hands stop then, leaving the sentence unfinished.

“Okay so - hang on,” Niall says, as he asks the deaf guy for his name. “Alright, so Zayn’s not going to wank in front of me. He just wants to go through this, as a fantasy for later.”

Lou takes a moment to consider that, then agrees. “As long as you’re both okay with this, I’ll do it.” He changes back to his earlier sultry tone, and adds, “So what are you wearing, Zayn? Something sexy, just for me?”

Niall tries his hardest to look enthusiastic and involved as he signs the message to Zayn, and given the expression on Zayn’s face, it probably works. _“Um, a button up shirt and boxers,”_ Zayn replies. _“I’ve just got back from work and slipped my trousers off.”_

It could be a hot fantasy, but looking at Zayn, Niall thinks he’s a bit stunned and just telling the truth. He certainly doesn’t look like he’s getting hot and bothered by this, with his wide eyes and slightly shaky hands and his lip between his teeth again, which looks red and sore rather than soft and teasing. So Niall’s kind, and signs back _“It’s okay, just relax”_ as he relays the outfit to Lou.

They continue like that for a while, with Niall interpreting for the two of them as they go through Zayn’s fantasy. Lou keeps up the sexy, bedroom voice so Niall does the same, and as he signs to Zayn, he keeps his hands soft and close to himself, to try and convey the personal and intimate nature of the things he’s saying to Zayn. From the way Zayn’s still blushing and cautiously signing his replies, Niall thinks it’s helping the mood, but also wonders if he should back off and keep this more professional, to make this easier for Zayn.

As he relays the latest message to Lou - “Zayn wants to suck you, to get your dick all wet” - Niall gets distracted by a yelp of surprise. It comes from Liam, who’s blushing heavily and staring at Niall from across the room. And when Niall looks over the other side, Harry’s doubled over with silent laughter, his face bright red and his hands flapping around as he tries to calm down.

Niall puts Zayn on hold and yells out, “You alright over there, Payno?”

Liam splutters for a while and then finally pulls himself together. “What on Earth are you doing? Who the hell’s Zayn and why is he sucking someone’s dick?”

Lou can obviously hear everything and is laughing along so Niall leaves the call running as he replies. “Zayn’s the deaf guy - he’s one of your regulars? And he wanted to call someone for phone sex, so I’m helping out.” By then Harry’s laughing so hard he’s fallen on the floor, and Liam’s just staring at Niall, like he can’t believe what’s happening, so Niall goes back to the call. “Sorry about that, Lou. That’s one of my co-workers. Now, I think you’re about to get your dick sucked.”

After a quick explanation to Zayn, they carry on with the fantasy. Luckily neither Harry nor Liam has to take a call, so there’s no awkwardness there. However, it does mean that the two of them just sit and focus on Niall as he relays messages between Zayn and Lou, which is a bit weird. It’s like he has an audience, but Niall keeps going like a pro, and the three of them gradually work through the fantasy.

“Oh God, you feel so good, Z-”

And the world goes quiet.

Niall panics and looks up at Harry, who’s frowning. He asks “Are you okay?” but it comes out much quieter than when he spoke before, even though Harry’s talking normally. And Niall almost bursts into tears because no, he’s not. His aid must have died at the worst possible time and without a spare battery, there’s nothing he can do. He can’t explain this to Lou, who’s got no idea what happened and is chattering away on the call, his voice too muffled for Niall to understand. And when Niall looks at the screen, he realises he can’t explain to Zayn either, because his hands won’t move from where he clenched them into fists.

Luckily within seconds Liam is behind Niall, taking the headset and gently pushing his chair away to take his place in front the computer. It’s a brilliant thing for him to do, taking over and sorting out this mess Niall’s made, but it’s also embarrassing and frustrating as hell. Niall could have avoided this by asking Harry to take the call, but he didn’t, and now he’ll get in trouble with their boss because of it.

Without looking at the others, Niall quickly leaves and heads for the bathroom, so he can at least cry in private. And he does cry, once he’s locked the door behind him. Not big heavy sobs, but a stream of tears that Niall just can’t stop, that fall one by one as he thinks about how stupid he is, about how useless he is without the hearing aid, about how his mam was right. Why would anyone care about a deaf person? Especially one without an aid. Like this, Niall can’t even make a phone call or buy his ticket for the bus or anything else that’s normal. Why would anyone want a friend like this?

The offending aid is still in his ear, and when Niall realises, he snatches it off the side of his head. According to the manufacturers it was a fault in the design, which was their mistake, but it took several months to realise there was a problem. And whilst yes, they were trying to sort out the situation and send new ones out to everyone, they had sold hundreds of faulty ones and could only make twenty or so a week to replace them. The company had therefore prioritised people who were profoundly deaf, giving them new ones first, before working down the scale for everyone else. And since Niall’s deafness was moderate, he was quite far down that scale, and still waiting for a replacement four months later.

Once he’s holding the hearing aid, Niall directs all his anger at the device and pulls his arm back, ready to throw it at the wall. But once he’s in position, he can’t do it. The aid might be rubbish and it may have stopped working at the worst possible time, but it’s all he’s got for now. Without it, Niall won’t be able to go to uni, or work at Video Relay, or do most of the things he takes for granted. So while he’s upset that he can’t get a new battery until tomorrow, Niall doesn’t want to lose the one thing that gives him a normal life. Not until it’s been replaced, anyway.

Since there’s nothing else he can do here, Niall leaves the bathroom and goes back to the office, so he can collect his jacket and wallet. Hopefully Liam and Harry will be taking calls when Niall goes back, and he’ll be able to slip in, get his stuff and leave before they can get his attention. It’s pretty unlikely, getting two calls together at this time of night, but it sometimes happens. And maybe after the terrible day he’s had, Niall might just get lucky.

The hope vanishes as soon as Niall opens the door and sees not two but four people in the room, all gathered together in an uneven circle. There’s Liam and Harry, which makes sense, and a short guy Niall vaguely recognises, and someone with their back to Niall. But as soon as the familiar stranger spots Niall, he nudges the fourth guy, who turns around, and.

It’s Zayn.

He’s wearing a denim jacket with a thick fluffy lining on the collar over his shirt from before, and he’s just standing there, smiling at Niall like this is normal, like he just came to meet Niall at the end of his shift. And it’s crazy because Video Relay helps people all over the country, and Zayn could live anywhere in the UK, but he doesn’t. He lives less than ten minutes from here, and Niall could see him whenever he wanted, and Niall’s never wanted someone as much as he wants Zayn. Because not only does he look great, but he’s probably deaf too, and he probably understands Niall better than most of his friends ever will.

With everyone staring at him, Niall starts to feel uncomfortable, and wishes they would go back to their conversation. However, he also wants to talk to Zayn, now they’re here together and can do this face to face, so his feet carry him over to the group before his mind can actually decide that it’s what he wants to do.

Once he’s there, Niall goes to stand near Liam, so he can still look at Zayn. Liam puts an arm around Niall’s shoulders, and Harry greets him with a wave and then introduces the others. _“So I guess you recognise Zayn, but this is Louis. He’s the one you spoke to on the phone - Lou?”_

Louis gives him a little wave and Niall frowns at Harry because wait, what?

_“We were going to play a prank on Liam,”_ Louis explains. _“I’m Zayn’s roomie, and yeah, I do work for the phone sex company. So we thought it’d be funny, for Zayn to call someone at Video Relay, and ask them to call me. Zayn suggested Liam, because he’d get all embarrassed about interpreting what we said to each other.”_

Niall nods slowly and turns to Zayn. _“So why didn’t you hang up when I said Liam wasn’t available?”_

Zayn looks down and rubs the back of his neck. His jacket and shirt ride up to reveal a strip of bare stomach and a written tattoo, and Niall instantly wants to touch it, to ask what it means. It’s an oddly intimate thing to want to do to a stranger, and Niall’s never had feelings like these before, but he likes them.

Eventually Liam gives Niall a squeeze, and Niall realises he’s missed what Zayn said. _“Sorry, what was that?”_

Zayn gestures to Louis and turns away, evidently too embarrassed to repeat his words. Louis, on the other hand, looks positively delighted to repeat what Zayn said. _“He said you’re hot, and he just wanted to see your hands doing those signs, so he could think of them again when he got himself off.”_

Louis turns away once he’s finished, and it takes a minute to realise he’s talking to Zayn. Not signing, though - they’re talking out loud, with regular hand gestures instead of signs. It makes Niall feel more alienated than ever, because he had really hoped that Zayn was deaf too, but apparently not. Apparently he is the only one who’s deaf, after all. To them sign language must have just been a class at college, something they learnt for fun, to use in pranks, instead of the lifeline it is for Niall.

Niall slips away from Liam and heads to the desk he was using, to grab his wallet and the bottle of water he brought. It’s on the other side of the room, and Niall doesn’t expect anyone to follow, but then he gets a tap on the shoulder. Part of him thinks he should have heard footsteps, but then he remembers that nope, no hearing for now.

Zayn’s right there when Niall turns around, smiling softly and biting his lip. _“Hey, can I give you something?”_

Niall looks around to where the others are chatting, but no one’s paying any attention to them. If this is another prank, at least this time no one will witness it. _“Yeah, sure. What is it?”_

Zayn reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small piece of curved plastic. It’s a replacement battery for his hearing aid, Niall can tell immediately, and he glances between Zayn and the battery several times. _“That’s a battery for a hearing aid. For my hearing aid.”_

Nodding, Zayn pushes his hair back to reveal his right ear, where his own hearing aid sits. It’s just like Niall’s, same manufacturer and model, but Zayn’s is the new version. Apart from not being faulty, the main difference is the colour - Zayn’s has a grey plastic case instead of the previous beige one, and. Niall doesn’t feel jealous, exactly, but he really can’t wait to get his replacement too, so he doesn’t have to worry about buying more batteries and how long they’ll last this time.

_“That’s for me?”_ Niall asks, just to check, as he glances between Zayn and the spare battery.

With a smile, Zayn nods again and holds it out to Niall, who takes it. _“Liam explained what had happened, that your aid died during the call, and that’s why you left. I bought a dozen of these when the first one lasted less than a month, so I’ve got a load of spares now. And I thought you need them more than me, now I’ve got my replacement, so I came over with one.”_

_“You didn’t have to do that-”_

_“It’s no problem.”_ Zayn blinks, and for a moment Niall gets so distracted by Zayn’s eyelashes that he forgets to watch his hands. _“-called this place so many times, and I had no idea I was so close to it. Lou and I live just off this street, about five minutes down that way by foot.”_

Niall nods and finds his hearing aid from his pocket, to replace the battery. Once it’s working again, he slips it back on his ear, and looks up at Zayn again. “Hi.”

“Hey there.”

Zayn’s voice comes out soft and undefined and, oh. If he’s not talking clearly, he probably can’t hear clearly, even with the top of the range hearing aids they both use. But Niall knows from experience that it’s awkward to talk about your hearing when you’re deaf, so he doesn’t ask any questions. Instead, he just speaks slowly and clearly, to make it as easy as possible for Zayn to understand him.

“You know, that was a great prank to play on Liam. I wish he had answered your call, because he would have got so embarrassed, and it would be really funny to see him interpreting for you.”

Grinning, Zayn nods. “Yeah, that’s why we picked him.” The grin softens into something more private, more fond than teasing. “I’m glad he didn’t, though. If Liam had answered, I wouldn’t have met you tonight. And then your aid would have died when you were at home, and we wouldn’t be here together, talking like this.”

“You're glad you met me?” Niall can’t believe that because Zayn might be deaf too but he’s gorgeous and lovely and he came over here to help out a stranger in the middle of the night just because he could. And yes, he may have trouble communicating with people, but surely anyone would want to talk to him, to be his friend or something more, when they see what a wonderful guy he is.

“Yeah, I am.” Zayn stares straight at Niall as he says it, and Niall starts to fidget under the intense gaze. “Louis’ right, Niall - I think you’re hot, and I got so hard watching you sign those things. And you were so great about it, too. You just did the job, happy to help me out even though it must’ve been awkward as fuck for you, to interpret all those things.”

Zayn ducks his head to look at the floor and scratches the back of his neck. “And I’m me, a geeky unemployed loner who can barely hear anything or say his own name. I don’t know why you’d be interested in me, of all people, and you’re probably not, I’m probably just-”

“Zayn.”

When Zayn looks up, Niall reaches out and gently slides the hearing aid out of Zayn’s ear, and then takes out his own and puts them both on the desk. Once his hands are free, Niall reaches up and grabs the collar of Zayn’s jacket in both hands, and pulls him down for a kiss. It’s a proper one, deep and full of attraction and the right amount of intense, and Niall love it. And when Zayn realises what’s happening, he gets involved, by grabbing Niall’s hips and kissing back with the same amount of enthusiasm and intent.

After a few minutes Niall pulls back, gasping for air, and smiles at Zayn. He now looks thoroughly dishevelled, Zayn, with messy hair and dark pink lips and a hazy smile, but Niall likes it. It suits Zayn, he thinks, and he’d quite like to make Zayn look like this on a regular basis, if he can.

_“You don’t know why you, of all people, but it’s simple,”_ Niall signs, once he’s thinking straight again. _“You understand.”_

They spend a moment just standing there, thinking about that connection, that understanding. Because they may have nothing else in common but they know what it’s like to struggle with communicating with other people. They know what it’s like to have your hearing aid die and suddenly, you feel lost in the middle of a busy room, which is why Zayn rushed over here with the spare battery. They know what it’s like to have the offensive questions and comments about your hearing or speech, which is why Niall hadn’t asked Zayn those same things himself. And they may not have the same hobbies, the same favourite movies or TV show, the same taste in food or clothes, they have a better understanding of how much being deaf can affect your life, and they can be there to offer help and support when the other needs it.

Zayn’s the first one to move again after that moment. _“So do you have to stay for your shift, or can you leave now?”_

_“I can go whenever - my shift finished at midnight.”_ Niall frowns at Zayn. _“Why?”_

_“Because I want to do some of the things we talked about earlier, and I think Liam might die if he sees them actually happen.”_ Zayn’s got a deep blush in his cheeks and a nervous smile on his lips as he signs it, but Niall also sees the cheekiness in his expression.

Niall grabs his things from the desk and his jacket from the rack in the corner, and comes back to find Zayn holding the two hearing aids in an open hand. It seems to be an offer, or a suggestion, but Niall knows what he wants to do tonight. _“Can we leave them off, for now? We’re only walking down the road to yours, and I want to do it like this. I want you, when you’re like this.”_

So they do exactly that, and each slip their hearing aid into a pocket, and walk back to Zayn’s house together in silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! My tumblr is [here](http://quietlyqueer.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk about this or anything else related to One Direction.
> 
> And before anyone asks, I would love to do a sequel to this which explores the relationship in more detail. However, as I said at the start, I know very little about any of this, and to write a full length story about these characters I would need a beta who can help me out with the deaf side of things. If anyone would like to do this, or can recommend someone who would be happy to help, please let me know in the comments or on tumblr.


End file.
